Films
Mancala is often represented in films. Sometimes merely as decoration, often with a deeper, symbolic meaning. Film genres include documentaries, comedies, science-fiction films, and thrillers. The oldest films showing the game were made in the 1910s. Mancala also made it into TV news in the Ivory Coast, Uganda, the Philippines, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkey, and France. Many other classic board games have also been shown in films, which include Chess, Draughts, Go and their variants. Modern games, such as Camelot, Monopoly, and Mensch ärgere dich nicht, sometimes played a role too. The game known as "Tri-Dimensional Chess", which is shown in many Star Trek episodes, was reconstructed by a fan of the series, Andrew Bartmess, and has then become a popular Chess variant. "A conspicious symbol for the fatal key note of the film is the image of two men playing a game. A caption explains that they play Chess, however, it is Kalah or a variant thereof." Olaf Möller about the documentary "In the German Sudan" List of Film Productions and TV Programs The films are in chronological order starting with the most recent. The tables only include films which were shown at cinemas, film festivals, art expositions or universities, broadcasted by a television channel or sold commercially. Documentaries The listings include TV reports (linked to current events), ethnographic films (made by researchers), travel documentaries and creative documentaries. Educational Films This category includes films which explain how to make mancala boards and how to play these games. Sport Magazines and Reports This category features films about mancala tournaments. TV Shows This category includes game shows, quiz shows, do-it-yourself shows, talk shows, and reality shows. Commercials This category includes short films that are advertising a product, service or game (including lotteries). Art Films This category includes music videos, avantgarde films (also known as "experimental films") and video art. Narrative Films Also known as "fictional films" these include animations, comedies, dramas, horror movies, soap operas ("pseudo-documentaries"), and romance films. Missing Scenes Mancala is mentioned in some film scripts, but not shown in the actual movie. Sometimes the game also appeared in shots that were not included in the film. Hello Africa Hello Africa (2009) is a documentary that illustrates cellphone culture in Africa. Although a game of Bao had been filmed ("We have great material of them chatting, dancing to mobile tunes, discussing telecom operators, fooling around, and enjoying a traditional game of Bao." (source)), the shots weren't included in the documentary. Machine Gun Preacher Machine Gun Preacher (2011) is an action biopic about Sam Childers, a former gang biker turned preacher and defender of African orphans. According to the script, the film should contain a mancala scene: EXT. FRONT GATE - CHILDREN’S ORPHANAGE - NIGHT A few of the SPLA soldiers sitting next to their weapons in the dark, smoking,tossing beads into a carved wooden trough, playing the ancient game of Mancala -- SOLDIER #2 (Arabic) That was a mistake... SOLDIER #3 (Arabic) Where? SOLDIER #2 (Arabic) Right here... your third “house” is open... 51 DENG (CONT'D) Soldier #3 reacting to his mistake as -- However, the actual film scene doesn't show mancala, just men sitting around in the dark. Uganda Wins Independence Uganda Wins Independence (1962) is a documentary about Uganda's independence celebations. One scene not included in the newsreel story shows two men playing Omweso. Various Watson Kintner Collection The Watson Kintner Collection of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology is a collection of travel films, which contains several shots of mancala boards: * Maasai playing a game on board with hollows; in: "East Africa (1952)" - Reel 8 * a Kenyan game played with holes in ground; in: "East Africa" (1961) - Reel 13 * a game of the Samburu using a wooden "frame"; in: "East Africa" (1961) - Reel 17 * indentations on base of stela at Aksum thought to be an ancient mancala game board; in: "Ethiopia" (1969) - Reel 14 External Links *Go filmography of the European Go Federation *Draughts/Checkers Filmography *An extensive list of Chess scenes with photos *A list of 1746 movies with Chess scenes by Bill Wall References ;Basalla, B.: Chess in the Movies. Thinkers' Press, Davenport IA (USA) 2005. ;Möller, O.: Der Blick: Anmerkungen zur Filmreihe "Erster Kontakt - Erster Blick". In: Film-Dienst 1993; 46 (15): 14-15. ;Tiongson, N.: The Cinema of Manuel Conde. University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, Manila (Philippines) 2008. Copyright © Wikimanqala. By: Ralf Gering Under the CC by-sa 2.5 license. *